Title: What is "Survival of the Fittest".



Lesson Overview

Many people hear the phrase "Survival of the Fittest" but don't always have a clear view of what it means to be the FITTEST. Often it assumed that the fittest organisms in nature are the stronger and faster ones, or the organism that lives longest. What makes an organism fittest is its ability to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. Mainly the point I want to deliver to students is that an organism can be weak, slow, and ugly but so long as they are able to reproduce they were a fit enough organism, for their environment.

Objectives

Students will analyze a cartoon to erase their misconceptions about "Survival of the fittest".

Materials



Links to Resources

Survival of the Sneaky

Cuddlefish

Tree Frogs

Opening

I will begin by asking the students if their are any questions they have about information they learned in the last 4 days. Then they will take the quiz. (10 min)
"Who has heard of this term survival of the fittest? --> (they may respond stronger fast animals survive). Well maybe, but what else may make an animal more fit.--> What is fitness? --> If I were a turtle and I was slow and weak would I not survive? What if I was a giant and fast mouse who couldn't run through the cracks, I would get stomped on, is that still fittest?" (5 min)

Engagement

Students will each receive a cartoon about crickets and survival of the fittest. In pairs they will read the cartoon and discuss and record answers to the questions that follow. The cartoon is a little bit comical which will give the students interest in reading and I think it will work well for all the students. (15 min)


Closing

Here is an example of another creature with sneaky tactics. Cuddlefish
and another Tree Frogs
(10 Min)

Assessment

The students will have the quiz on Darwin, Natural Selection, and Adaptations Vs Acclimation.
For todays assessment I will be collecting each students 4 question response for the Survival of the Sneakiest assignment, it will be graded by completion.